In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Recent Posts

04 Nov

Looking for a break from the round-the-clock U.S. election coverage today?  Then, check out the news stories coming out of Taiwan this morning.  The head of the highest-level PRC delegation to visit Taipei since 1949 has signed a series of instruments with his Taiwanese counterpart on a range of economic topics:  Taiwan and China signed a range of deals on Tuesday...

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04 Nov

I’m with Chris – hard to focus today on anything other than the presidential election. (Indeed, I’m at pains to tear my eyes away from Ben Smith’s blog over at Politico, which is keeping anecdotal tabs on voter turnout here in the United States. His latest post as of 11:57am EST: “The Obama aide who told me last night that...

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04 Nov

Those of us in the U.S. are off to the polls, so I thought we could try doing an open thread today for comments and suggestions to the new President, whoever that is, concerning America's foreign policy, with a particular emphasis on international law.  Obviously there has been alot of talk about getting out of Iraq, putting a definitive end...

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03 Nov

This according to the Sudan Tribune: A senior Chinese official suggested that his country has no plans to introduce a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution suspending the indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir. China’s special envoy to Africa Liu Guijin told the pro-government daily Al-Rayaam in a rare interview that he toured Washington, Paris and London...

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03 Nov

I've only met Professor Christopher Greenwood of the Department of Law of the London School of Economics once, but I have long been an admirer of his work. He is a prolific and interesting scholar, as well as a leading practitioner of public international law. Greenwood's credentials for the ICJ are impeccable (check them out here). But he is facing flak at...

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02 Nov

People often complain here in the U.S. about how the nature of presidential campaigns make it hard for complex and sophisticated ideas to get out (and this is a gross understatement).  And the media is often blamed.  But the candidates are often just as much as fault. Case in point, Senator Obama's silence on what he thinks of the deadly U.S....

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02 Nov

"Chucky" Taylor, son of former Liberian President (and current war crimes defendant) Charles Taylor, was convicted Friday in Florida federal court of committing torture when he was with his father in Liberia. What makes Taylor's conviction news (although only news overseas, apparently, since it didn't make any of the leading U.S. newspapers) is that it is the first conviction under the...

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02 Nov

Obama has an aunt who is present in the United States in violation of the immigration laws.  So what?  Lots of American citizens and legal immigrants have undocumented alien family members.  See this report from the Urban Institute on so-called mixed-status families, that is, nuclear families in which some members are citizens, some not.  For example, the study estimates that...

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02 Nov

At risk of exhibiting the same cynicism of which Stendhal himself was accused, a famous passage on politics and newspapers and literature from The Red and the Black, Book Two, chapter 52, "The Discussion": Here the author would have liked to insert a page of dots. 'That will not look pretty,' says the publisher, 'and for so frivolous a work not...

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02 Nov

Interested in how popular culture constructs narratives about torture?  Fascinated by the ticking time-bomb scenario? Like Battlestar Galactica and/or 24?  Then do I have an essay for you, written by my friend and colleague John Ip: This article is about two different narratives or accounts of torture. Each narrative signifies a certain view about the legality and wisdom of employing torture...

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01 Nov

As part of its ongoing efforts to educate Americans about the national shame that is Guantanamo Bay, Amnesty International is touring the country with a replica of David Hicks' cell: AIUSA’s prison cell replica includes a steel toilet, florescent lights and a sliding metal door. In addition, visitors may record a 30-second reaction video that will be posted on youtube.com and...

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